JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi has become the latest U.S. state declared a major disaster area by President Donald Trump amid the new coronavirus outbreak. Sunday's declaration opens the state to more federal assistance to confront the pandemic. Gov. Tate Reeves announced Friday that he has asked Trump to issue a major disaster declaration for Mississippi because of the coronavirus, in order to make additional aid available. The Mississippi Health Department’s latest count Saturday showed more than 1,600 positive tests for the virus and 43 deaths. Mississippi’s declaration comes after a statewide stay-at-home order took effect Friday evening in a bid to slow the outbreak.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-TUSKEGEE-MISTRUST

Amid coronavirus pandemic, black mistrust of medicine looms

NEW YORK (AP) — Roughly 40 million African Americans are deciding minute by minute whether to put their faith in the government and in the medical field during the coronavirus pandemic. Historic failures in government response to disasters and emergencies, medical abuse, neglect and exploitation have jaded generations of black people into a distrust of public institutions. Some might call it the “Tuskegee effect," referring to the U.S. government’s once-secret syphilis study of black men in Alabama that one study shows later reduced their life expectancy due to distrust of medical science. How well the government and medical community respond to the current crisis will be especially crucial for outcomes among black Americans, civil rights advocates and medical experts say.

FUGITIVE'S FAKED DEATH

Fugitive's former friend wonders why he stole his identity

PASCAGOULA, Miss. (AP) — For more than a year, a man who allegedly faked his own death and fled multiple child sex abuse charges in Mississippi lived in an Oklahoma RV park using the name of a friend. Jacob Scott was captured in January after being found using the name Lucas Walding. Walding told The Sun Herald, in an exclusive interview, that he and Scott had been friends for more than 20 years. That has since changed. He says he never would have thought Scott would “do something like this.”

MISSISSIPPI SCHOOLS-LAWSUIT

Court revives suit over Mississippi school funding disparity

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A federal appeals court has revived a lawsuit that says Mississippi allows large inequality in funding between mostly black and mostly white schools. A federal district judge ruled in 2019 that state officials couldn't be sued. But, the appeals court said Thursday that people can sue a state if they seek changes going forward and not compensation for past practices. Southern Poverty Law Center filed the suit in 2017 for low-income African American women who said black schools are in worse condition than white ones. An attorney says the center looks forward to making its arguments in court.

FATAL SHOOTING-SON-IN-LAW

Sheriff: 81-year-old fatally shoots son-in-law after fight

MOSS POINT, Miss. (AP) — Authorities in Mississippi say a man has been arrested and accused of fatally shooting his son-in-law. News outlets report 81-year-old Guy Radar was charged Thursday with second-degree murder in the shooting death of his son-in-law George White. Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell says the shooting happened Thursday after the pair got into an argument at a home they share. Ezell says 58-year-old White was shot twice in the chest and died at the scene. Radar was taken into custody and released without bond because of his age and physical condition. It’s unclear whether Radar has an attorney.

INMATE DEATH-MISSISSIPPI

Inmate dies after fight in privately run Mississippi prison

WOODVILLE, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi inmate has died after a fight with his cellmate in a privately run prison. David Young died Wednesday in a Jackson hospital after being flown there from the Wilkinson County Correctional Facility in Woodville. That's according to a news release Thursday from Management & Training Corporation. It said the other inmate is being treated at a hospital. An autopsy will be done on 42-year-old Young. He was serving a life sentence for a murder conviction. Young was at least the 31st Mississippi inmate to die since late December. The Justice Department is investigating the state prison system.